By Cícero Pedrosa Neto and Fábio Zuker from Agência Pública Fishing is one of the main activities in the marine extractive reserves in the state of Pará, a part of Amazonia whose landscape is composed of mangroves, small waterways and ocean beaches — n…
Element Africa: Mines take their toll on nature and communities
By Mongabay.com Groups demand end to Chinese gold mine operating inside DRC reserveITURI PROVINCE, Democratic Republic of Congo — Civil society groups have condemned what they say is illegal gold mining in Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Repub…
Fish-feed industry turns to krill, with unknown effects on the Antarctic ecosystem
By Francesco De Augustinis MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay/PUNTA ARENAS, Chile/PORDENONE, Italy — A mountain of krill meal has been packed inside a huge warehouse: divided into bags and stacked in hundreds of piles that stretch almost to the ceiling. The warehouse…
“Largest of its kind” dam in Cameroon faces backlash from unimpressed fishmongers
By Yannick Kenné NDJI, Cameroon – Batchenga, 65 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé, is slowly reopening. After serving as a ramp at the start of a national road linking the center region and Adamaoua in the north, it now owes…
In Madagascar, a tree-planting business goes long on social, short on eco
By Valisoa Rasolofomboahangy ANDRAMASINA, Madagascar — It’s transplanting season in Andramasina’s rice fields. The town is just 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Madagascar’s bustling capital, Antananarivo, but it takes two and a half hours of driving …
Malaysia revokes oil palm concession near UNESCO-listed Bornean park
By Rachel Donald In a surprise victory for Indigenous communities in Malaysian Borneo, the Sarawak state government has revoked a contested palm oil concession in the Mulu region. This comes after protests against the project and joint legal action by …
Trouble in the tropics: The terrestrial insects of Brazil are in decline
By Jeremy Hance In 1978, when he moved to his current home on the rural outskirts of Campinas, Brazil, Thomas Lewinsohn, a professor of ecology at Campinas University, routinely encountered a “rewarding assortment of insects” at night, he writes in a n…
New study identifies mature forests on U.S. federal lands ripe for protection
By Justin Catanoso In a major new study, a team of scientists has published what it calls the first-ever, map-based assessment of existing mature and old-growth forests in the continental United States. Such forests are critical to fighting climate cha…
The force is strong with space lasers helping researchers map the Amazon in 3D
By Abhishyant Kidangoor For decades, satellite images have clearly captured how rampant deforestation is destroying the Amazon rainforest. But what about the trees that remain standing? What do their dimensions tell us about our planet’s future? Quite …
How bears “make” a forest (commentary)
By Enrique Ortiz In the Andean region the ageless story of Juan Oso, a half-human and half-bear character, has been heard throughout generations. It is said that Juan lived all sad and alone in a dark cave, until the day he met and fell in love with a …